Introduction

Over the years, Y Combinator (YC) has firmly established itself as one of world's most successful startup accelerators spawning many a household name like Airbnb, Dropbox and Stripe. For most entrepreneurs, getting into YC is a major turning point that enables them to bring their startup to the next level. The YC application is based around the pitch deck — a short, compelling early-stage presentation outlining your business to potential investors. A pitch deck usually serves as the first deep dive investors will take into your business, making it invaluable to getting their attention and setting up potential future conversations around funding.

So whether you are looking to get initial funding or scale up, my hope is that this blog can help answer what the critical elements of a YC pitch deck are and some advice on how to put one together plus more importantly what investors look for in these decks specifically. You can use these components to create a great YC pitch deck that complies with style and matches your investors.

What is a YC Pitch Deck?

A YC pitch deck: A short presentation which startup founders create to explain their business idea, model and team to the partners from at Y Combinator during application process. You want to explain the value of your startup, how big is the market and whether it's scalable so that investors could understand why they should invest in this company. YC decks differ from old school pitch-decks because they tend to be very short and are designed for delivering the must-know information.

How to Create a YC Pitch Deck

Planning Content

The beginning of a YC pitch deck is about telling a simple, powerful story. First, define your startup vision and mission or USP. This story will flow through your pitch deck, leading discussion from problem to solution transition and showcasing what makes the startup strong. While your content should be brief and to the point, you want it so that each slide makes a statement leading up to "the story" — which is why they need invest in your startup.

Visual Design

Why is visual design important for conveying your message through the presentation (or pitch deck)? A clean, layout keeps prospective investors concentrating on the high-impact bits which in turn assists other comprehend your startup's worth proposition. High-quality visuals with the same colour schemes and easy to read fonts testify for a professional touch. But also remember, design should only serve to enrich the content within it and not of its own. If you’re not a great designer, use a pitch deck design agency to make sure your slidedeck looks polished and finished.

Highlighting Key Points

Be sure to articulate what separates your startup from other, similarly-situated players and why it speaks directly to an unmet market need. Talk about what makes your product special from: a strategic standpoint, how are you going to acquire customers in the generic market and any edge your team has over everyone else. Provide data and evidence to support your claims, with a specific focus on how it is scalable for sustainable business growth.

Focus on this create a prefect pitch deck and avoid while designing a YC Pitch Deck

What Investors Look for in a YC Pitch Deck

Clear Value Proposition

Investors are mainly looking for a strong and unique value proposition to understand how your solution addresses an important problem or better solves existing problems. The Investors want to know that you have found a real problem in the market and that your startup is tackling it with its own solution. You should have a clear and concise value proposition that is easy to understand for your audience, included in the pitch deck!

Market Understanding

You need strong market insight to illustrate how your startup presents investors with a great growth opportunity. Investors want to understand that you've done your homework; meaning customer insights, market size/growth potential and competitive landscape analysis. By demonstrating market understanding, you are attesting that not only do you know what is out there in terms of opportunity but also the challenges and have a strategic plan on how to navigate them.

Team Capability

A successful startup is supported by an efficient, passionate team. When reviewing the team slide, investors are paying attention to see if you have what it takes (based on skills and experience) or if they even want to work with you for years down outside-that is definitely a huge portion of their decision. Emphasize the relevant experience, accomplishments and place in your organization of each team member. Investors are not making a bet on the concept, they are betting on people.

Conclusion

For a YC Pitch Deck to be effective, it needs someone who truly understand what investors are seeking for. Build a pitch deck that will help YC reviewers better understand how your startup is uniquely positioned in the market place, more scalable and demonstrate a strong team. It will help if you also refine the content and concept of your deck after getting feedback from them, there are many investors at Enrichfunding so remember these tips to create a professional debt.